Yoshikatsu: Medical Image of Man Receiving Moxibustion Treatment; Profound Adivice of Harmonious Unity of Five Body Parts

Artist: Utagawa Yoshikatsu 歌川芳勝

Title: Profound Adivice of Harmonious Unity of Five Body Parts 五體和合心すい*の教訓 (gotai wagô shinsai no kyôkun)  Date: 1862/5

A Gulliver-like townsman fills the lower design, his expression rather resigned as he tucks up his sleeve for a medical treatment.  From his left side, six demon-like figures on a cloud appear on the rightmost sheet; they carry sharp weapons and two carry what look like blood vessels. They bear sour expressions.  On the left sheet another four figures appear emanating from the head of the man; they bear helpful treatments of Traditional Chinese medicine and attend to the moxabustion treatment being applied to his leg. 

Writing fills the entire background: Yoshikatsu compares the body to the teaching of five moral rules to govern human relations, gorin:  lord and vassal; father and son; husband and wife; young and old; and friends. The text roughly says: The face, kao is like -----, the back, senaka is like wife, both hands, ryôte are like brothers, children and vassals are ...... like functions of the hands and feet. The whole body is like relatives. It is not easy to keep them in harmony. Disharmony may occur when the eyes, me arrogantly believe that without me nothing can be seen, the feet, ashi are proud of themselves that without me nothing can be delivered, the hands, te convinced that even daily rice cannot be prepared without me. Therefore everybody squares their elbows to each other and despises others. Then the text goes on about the nose, hana and the mouth, kuchi. The bellybutton, heso, the text continues, observes and feels from the head to feet, though it is slightly sinking in the belly. It  is situated in the center of the belly but it does not disturb any others... Though it does not have any eyes and ears, mimi, it can perceive the whole. It does not have the hands to deal with money. It finds it is unpleasant that our saying has the expression hesokuri, secret money. The text continues about the feet and then on the second page, it caricatures the scene at the pleasure quarters in Kyoto, where the feet and the head get in difficulty. The rest of the text describes how the bellybutton tries to reconcile and bring back the harmony of the body.      

Reference is also made to the doctoral thesis by Hata Yuki, 畑有紀 Nagoya University in 2015, titled “Edo kôki bungeisakuhin o meguru shoku to yôjô”「江戸後期文芸作品をめぐる食と養生」(Food and Health Care Observing Through the Artworks During the Last Half of Edo Period). She studies the knowledge of food and health care of the common people at the time and introduces its background/origin by viewing through art works of the time such as illustrated books, scrolls and Nishiki-e. She points out that it was the time (1862) when measles was spreading  in Edo, and Hashika-e, which dealt with the subject of measles, became a media source of information for the common people about the disease. On page 144 in Chapter 6, she illustrates this print by Yoshikatsu  (Ill.No.6-4)  in connection with the black-and-white illustration of the same composition from the yellow -cover Book (Illustrated book), probably read as, “waraibanashi ni okeru sui-cha/sa”黄表紙「笑話於すい*茶」(Ill.No.6-5). With thanks to Michiko Sato-Grube for her research.

Dimensions: Ôban diptych (37.3 x 25 cm each sheet)
Publisher: Nôshû-ya Yasubei
Seal: on the left bottom number “15 “ in red
Signature: Isshûsai Yoshikatsu gisha (caricature picture) with his paulownia seal

SKU: YOI016